Game Review

Cave Story Review

With the release of Cave Story on WiiWare earlier this year, Nicalis gave Wii owners a chance to experience a game that's become one of the most popular indie PC titles of all time. Now it's decided to give gamers a chance to own a portable version of the game that they can take with them on go. And while the game hasn't changed much in the transition, it does seems to fit the small screen of the DS like a glove.

At its heart, Cave Story is very much an action-platformer. You'll spend the majority of your time running, jumping and blasting, but there's a certain emphasis on exploration as well. When you begin the game, you don't even have a weapon at your disposal – instead you must locate the weapon and then speak to various creatures to find out what you need to do next. While the game holds your hand a bit at first, you'll soon be faced with figuring out many of the game's mysteries on your own as you explore each area. It's ultimately this combination of gaming elements that make the game such an enthralling experience.

As you explore areas you'll locate new and more powerful weapons, not to mention speciality items that many times play a key role in advancing through the levels. Some weapons feature unlimited firepower, whereas others require you to pick up extra ammunition from downed enemies. You can even switch weapons on the fly by pressing the L or R shoulder buttons. You'll soon find that being able to switch weapons quickly will play a key role in how effective you are against some of the game's tougher bosses. Add in the ability to collect Weapon Crystals to power up your weapons and you've got quite the arsenal with which to tackle the game's wide variety of enemies and bosses.

The Story mode of the game is the meat of the package and will be where you'll likely spend the majority of your time. It's basically the same game as found on WiiWare, so its main draw will obviously be its portability. There's also a special mode that's unlockable for those who are willing to put in the time to get it, not to mention a Jukebox mode that allows you to listen to music tracks that have been unlocked in the Story mode.

You can't help but love the smooth and responsive controls the game offers up and being able to toggle weapons so quickly and easily is also a big plus. It would have been nice to be able to keep the map displayed during the actual gameplay rather than pausing the game to access it, but it's a minor gripe really. The game also features a very gradual and smooth difficulty curve, although it can be a bit deceiving early on, as the game ramps up in difficulty quite well in later levels and should test even the most seasoned action-platformer fans. Toss in some RPG-style exploration elements and three difficulty levels and you've got an extremely well-rounded and fairly lengthy gaming experience that should keep you busy for some time.

Cave Story has never been about flashy visuals, but the game looks great on the small screen of the Nintendo DSi. The developers have done a great job of capturing the charming look and feel of the game onscreen and even as nice as the WiiWare game looked, the vibrancy and clarity of this DSiWare version seem to eclipse it in some ways. The same can be said of the audio presentation as well, as all of the musical tracks sound amazing on the DS. There are a few sound effects that were cut out, but it's difficult to complain too much considering how much audio the developers were able to pack into this portable release.

Conclusion

Cave Story is full of charm and personality, and its eccentric world draws you in from the moment you begin playing, with its ever-increasing intensity and action helped by the game's enjoyable gameplay scheme. When you combine all of this with the game's portability and unlockable extras, what you have is one of the most playable and addictive titles to hit DSiWare to date. As good as Cave Story was on Wii, it might even be a little better on the DSi.

Nice review Corbie, BTW I just noticed that Corbie Dillard is in the credits!-- Under the "Very Special Thanks" section. :0 What did he do to get in there? Maybe Nicalis liked his review of the WiiWare version. Anyway, I've spent over $100 on DSiWare and this is my favorite game by far. Great job Pixel!

Waited for this version before I got it and I must say its fantastic and for only 10 dollars how can you beat that! Don't let the old school looks fool you like I first did and download one of these versions now.

From the first 5 mins I could tell this game was something special. The fluid controls; the metroid style theme when you get items; the cute and engaging story! This is a must own for any platforming fan.

^It depends if you want to sit in front of your TV or take it with you wherever you go. For me it was portability. The graphics did seem to take a little hit though on the dsi version. I downloaded the demo on the Wii version and it looks so vibrant.

@Tech101The graphics didn't take a hit, per se, they're just a direct port of the original PC version. The graphics were specifically updated for the WiiWare version to take advantage of the larger screen.

@Kid_A it just looks a bit better on my TV. It might be where I have my settings on my TV but just looks about 25% better with more vibrant colors. Still I prefer portable over graphics anyways when it comes to the same content!

Also if this game is running on 480p that might explain why I think it looks better!

LOVE THIS GAME! This is quite possibly the best DSI Ware game to date, so much better to play on the DSi cause I can play it on the can or when I'm about to go to sleep. I've already played this version longer than the Wii Ware version since I'm always on the go.

Extremely epic. The only differences are some added things on the bottom screen. Alot of dialogue is slightly worded differently too. And of course, hard and easy mode are nice. I think theres a boss rush or something, because theres a hidden game in the main menu. I wouldnt know what it is, although I am heading into the best ending area...Oh god.

I was wondering how far people have reached on the hardest difficulty level.

For me, I recently got to the tank boss in the Labyrinth. It's a real challenge, having only 3 hp and no missiles. The tank might be as far as I go in hard mode (at least for now), because it's a real pain to trek to that boss from the closest save point. Maybe someday I will gather the courage to finish hard mode.

From what I've played it's the same as the Wii version only without the higher res graphics and remixed music. Graphics and music for the DS version are the originals. I think those are what he's calling frilly junk.

Ok, I have bought this and beaten it . . . and now I want Cave Story 2! The game was awesome. I hope the team will make a second one. There seems to be so much more story of our character, and what of this war? What happens to the creatures? There are so many questions that lead to so many possible sequels to answer them.

@Marioman64Yes, you have to do a bunch of special requirements, like save Booster and Curly and then kill the final boss (the one after the Undead Core). There's more, but I don't want to give any spoilers.

I'm confused! I searched this game on the DSi Shop, and it didn't come up. Neither did Shantae. I'm not using the parental controls, either. My DSi is from England, I think. Would that be why I can't find these games? D; Anyway, nice solid review. Makes me want to play it.... How much does it cost?

Erm, I'm kinda on the fence here... I've already played through Cave Story on the PC, but I'm wondering if I should get this game rather than Shantae... Because I only have 2000 Nintendo points. Which one would you recommend?

Don't worry Kirby, there's still no sign of it on European DSiWare yet I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to get more points before it's available to us for download. We might even get the 3DS version before the DSiWare version at this rate

this game is only like, 42 blocks isn't it? i don't want to download a game that is only this many blocks really. so if anybody who has downloaded this game could tell me if its worth it, i'd appreciate it!

This game is freakin AWESOME! I passed it once but going to pass it 2 more times b/c i left curly the first time i passed it(no tow rope) and now i left curly in a bed than i saved the game, now i cant get her back and i still want to try out the last weapon. Its just a good game and on the GO makes it even better. Cant wait for CAVE STORY the movie JK JK.Wheres cave story plus BTW?